The old man furrowed his brows, looked up at the sky, and felt a pang in his heart, muttering, "The ravens haven't arrived."

"What's wrong, Elder?" Hu Li asked.

The old man kept repeating these four words, pacing back and forth, then suddenly turned and grabbed Hu Li, asking, "Tell me, who gave you the knife behind you?"

Hu Li was taken aback but replied, "I found it by chance in a dilapidated temple."

The old man burst into laughter. "You picked up a cursed knife. You have a great affinity with it."

After saying this, the old man disappeared from their sight with a leap. Jiang Yu chased after him, but soon returned alone.

"Where is he?" Hu Li asked.

"He's gone." Jiang Yu had only caught a glimpse of a shadow before it vanished.

"The ravens. The ravens that come every year?" Hu Li rubbed his chin, suddenly as if enlightened, "The ravens belonging to the swallows?"

Jiang Yu glanced at Hu Li. "Are you unwell?"

"It's not light." Hu Li said, "Let's go to Qinglong Temple."

The two men removed their raincoats, leaving them in the rain, and entered Qinglong Temple after the rain.

Qinglong Temple was as usual, with its gates wide open, but the sound of wooden fish was absent.

On the stone steps at the temple gate, Han Xiao was sitting. When he saw the two men coming, he raised the teacup in his hand, smiling gently, which was very fitting for this mountain temple.

"I thought you two would come yesterday, but I didn't expect to see you after a day."

"Can you tell fortunes?" Hu Li asked with a smile.

"Whether I can or cannot, what difference does it make?"

"Is Master Han waiting for us?" Jiang Yu interrupted them and asked.

"Yes." Han Xiao led the two into the temple.

Hu Li looked around, not moving much, but Han Xiao, with the back of his head, said to him, "The master is not here. Only Han Xiao is here to entertain you. If you feel it's inadequate, there's nothing I can do."

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Hu Li now suspected that there was an eye in Han Xiao's occiput, or he really could tell fortunes.

The old monk was also not in the temple.

Could it be because the ravens hadn't come?

Hu Li suddenly said, "Does Qinglong Temple have ravens?"

"No," Han Xiao replied, this time without beating around the bush.

The three went to the small house where they had first met. Han Xiao brewed tea, filled a cup for each of them, and sat quietly in the distance.

After a quarter of an hour, Jiang Yu finished his tea and said, "Mr. Han's tea brewing can't hold people for long."

"If Han Xiao can't hold you two, where else will you go?" Han Xiao did not raise his head, making a gesture of invitation, "Where else will you go and for what purpose? Since fate is undecided, why not sit for a while longer?"

Hu Li and Jiang Yu glanced at each other.

Hu Li asked, "Does Mr. Han know that a man named Xu was found dead a few days ago, just like the man in the inn, both dead from the 'Final Breath' poison?"

"Do you think I did it?" Han Xiao asked.

"We never said that. It's just that there are very few people in the world who have seen or heard of this poison. It's a strange coincidence that two people died from it in the same way in Shangying City. The only person in Shangying City who knows about this poison is Mr. Han."

"Knowing it will cause trouble, why did Han Xiao explain it to you?" Han Xiao paused for a moment and said again, "The prescription for the 'Final Breath' poison is kept secret by the Gu clan. Perhaps the deaths of these two people were just a smokescreen."

Jiang Yu silently took a sip of tea and looked out the window.

Although the rain had stopped, the sky remained overcast.

"You don't need to spend too much time on Han Xiao," Han Xiao said before waiting for their response.

The bronze bell in Qinglong Temple rang.

It was likely that the old monk had returned to Qinglong Temple. There was no need for Han Xiao to keep them.

The two bid farewell to Han Xiao and left. Han Xiao saw them off to the door, watching them leave before turning back to his bamboo house.

The people guarding Shangying City had held a secret for a lifetime and would continue to keep it.

But who were the ravens the old man spoke of?

Had the old man met the old monk from Qinglong Temple?

Two figures dressed in black passed by from the southwest. They brushed past Hu Li and his companions. One of them Hu Li recognized as Yu Qiu, the assistant he had seen in Yanran City.

Yu Qiu nodded at Jiang Yu and then walked in the opposite direction with Hu Li and the others.

The two stood under the eaves of the inn's entrance.

A thunderbolt split the sky in half, and rain poured down like a curtain.

The waiter pushed the door open and grabbed a long stool to prop it against the door, but the wind kept it from closing.

"This rain looks like it won't stop anytime soon," the waiter said, sighing as he looked at the sky.

Before he finished speaking, he wanted to go back inside the shop.

Hu Li asked, "Aren't you going to close the door?"

"With such heavy rain, wouldn't it be better to choose an auspicious day to look for someone? No one will come looking for trouble today."

Hu Li glanced at Jiang Yu, asking, "What does he mean?"

Jiang Yu chuckled, "You're asking me?"

Hu Li was taken aback, then turned and went upstairs. He knocked on Bai Huai Shui's door for a while, but no one answered, so he pushed the door open and entered.

No one was inside.

Hu Li frowned.

Even on a rainy day, there was a broken umbrella that Bai Huai Shui looked down upon.

With his temperament, he would never play in the mud.

There was nothing unusual in the room, but the person was gone. They searched the entire inn but couldn't find anyone.

Hu Li asked the waiter, who mistakenly thought that Bai Huai Shui had left with Hu Li and the others.

Bai Huai Shui said he was here to help, but he was actually hindering them.

After a while, the two returned to the inn.

One of them wore a bamboo hat, revealing a thin chin. The other's scar occupied most of the right side of his face. Their attire was ordinary, but their intrusion into Shangying City...

Hu Li frowned and discreetly glanced at their table. The waiter had already arrived at their table. "Are you two staying or just passing through?"

The man with the bamboo hat took off his hat, revealing a handsome face.

"What would the lady like to eat?" The waiter bowed even lower.

The scarred man slammed the table and said, "Bring out the best wine and dishes."

The waiter hurriedly left to fulfill their order.

Jiang Yu downed his wine in one gulp. Hu Li frowned and glanced at the table again, but this time, the girl caught him off guard.

The girl's lips curled as she looked at Hu Li.

Hu Li felt a chill from his feet to his head and quickly averted his gaze.

"I see that Lord Hu is quite different from the rumors in the martial world," the girl suddenly said, pondered for a moment, then said softly, "Does he have what I want?"

Such boldness was truly one of a kind.

"What the lady wants, has Lord Hu ever thought of not giving?"

"If you don't want to give, then I'll take it," the girl said with a flushed face, "What you have will be mine sooner or later."

Jiang Yu burst into laughter. "The lady is young but speaks boldly."